Charles Clark was born in 1811 in Lebanon, Ohio. He graduated from law school in Kentucky and was given a river trip to New Orleans in 1831. When Clark stopped in Natchez, Mississippi, he was attracted to the old city. He set up a law practice there and married the daughter of a prosperous planter. By age 30, Clark was among the wealthiest landowners in the state. His physical stature, keen intellect and dignified manner established him as a popular leader in the community. He served in the Mexican War and spent two terms in the Mississippi legislature.

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At the start of the Civil War, Clark was a brigadier general of Mississippi militia, a rank he also held in the Confederate Army. In 1863, war wounds ended his military service. Returning to politics, Clark was elected governor of Mississippi, facing the daunting responsibility of leading a ravished, war-torn state. With the South's surrender, he and other Confederate leaders were imprisoned. Upon release, Clark returned to his plantation and law practice, advocating reconciliation with the Union. Charles Clark died in 1877 while serving as a trustee of the University of Mississippi. He was buried on his plantation, "Doro."